


The Best Pizza In New York City

by combefemme



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-05-08
Packaged: 2018-01-23 23:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1584125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combefemme/pseuds/combefemme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an encounter with his father, Tommy seeks Kate's comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Pizza In New York City

**Author's Note:**

> I'm terrible at titles.

The best pizza in New York City. This is what Tommy had boasted about the little pizzeria he'd discovered around the corner from his new apartment. How he'd even managed to get an apartment is beyond Kate. He's not exactly the most responsible person she knows and he doesn't always make a great first impression. That, and the criminal record (which Kate has a feeling is bogus but Tommy insists can still get him into trouble). He does have a vaguely steady source of income, though. That must just be enough for some landlords, she supposes.

Kate exchanges a look with Billy and Teddy. The best pizza in New York City. It's a tall order and not one Kate's so sure the grease-soaked slice in her hand fills. Tommy is munching happily on his own slice, though, none-the-wiser to his friends' dubious glances and Kate just doesn't have the heart to voice her disappointment. She can let it go, she decides. Tommy's not even really from New York, after all. How would he know where the best pizza is?

"So, how's the new apartment?" Teddy asks, wiping his hands on a napkin -- the third one in as many bites.

Tommy looks up and smiles, swallows, before saying, "Pretty great. No rules. No curfew. No paren--" the door behind Kate chimes and Tommy's voice catches. His smile disappears and his eyes go wide.

"Tommy?" Kate asks. He's staring at something over her shoulder and she turns to see what it is.

A man has just walked in. He's tall and broad but going round around the middle. He looks like he used to work out but hasn't in a few years; like a gym coach who does more sitting on the sidelines than actual playing. His dark hair is going grey, too, though he doesn't look quite old enough for it. When his light brown eyes land on Tommy they widen in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demands, coming over to their table. "I thought they locked your freak ass away."

"I-" Tommy stutters. He's not looking at the man anymore, his eyes downcast and his shoulders tense. He looks scared in a way Kate's never see him before. 

The man shakes his head. "Pathetic. I don't care what that test said. There's no way in hell you're my kid. No son of mine would be this goddamn _pathetic_.

Kate's eyes snap up to the man standing over them. _This_ is Tommy's father?

He looks around the table at the rest of them and when his eyes land on Billy his eyebrows knit in. "What the hell--?"

"Can we help you?" Teddy cuts in, his voice edged with anger.

He turns to Teddy, seeming to shake off the shock of this strange boy who looks exactly like his son.

"Help me?" he asks with a laugh. It's a cruel sound. "No, you can't help me. You can help yourselves, though, and stop hanging around with this freak --" he jabs his thumb in Tommy's direction without looking at him "-- he's nothing but a worthless pain in the ass."

His eyes light on Kate then and he leans back so he can rake them over her. She grits her teeth. She's never met anyone that makes he fingers itch for her bow as bad as Frank Shepherd.

"Especially you, sweetheart," he says to her, lowering his voice. She's not sure if he's trying to be conspiratorial or sultry but either way it makes her want to gag. "A pretty young thing like you shouldn't be wasting your time with the likes of him."

"Leave her alone," Tommy says then, speaking for the first time. He still hasn't looked up, though, and his voice shakes. 

Frank slams his hands down on the tables and leans over Tommy menacingly. "What did you say to me?" he growls. "You don't tell me what to do. You're nothing but a useless freak. A stupid son of a--"

"I want you to stop talking," Billy shouts through gritted teeth.

Frank turns to him with a smirk and opens his mouth to retort but no noise comes out. His eyes go wide and his hands fly to his throat like he's choking. His mouth keeps moving but he doesn't make a sound.

Kate can't help but smirk and she sees Teddy do the same as Billy glares daggers at Frank. Tommy is still staring at the tabletop.

"Alright," Teddy says, pushing himself to his feet. "I've had about enough of you."

With that he walks around the table and grabs Frank by the upper arm, dragging him out of the pizzeria. Frank continues to shout silently the whole way, his face going red.

Kate watches them go before turning back to Tommy. He's got his eyes closed now, gripping the edge of the table with white-knuckled hands. He's shaking.

"Tommy," Kate says carefully, reaching for him. He has to calm down, she knows. If he doesn't stop shaking he could blow something up. Before she can get a hand on him, though, he's gone, leaving behind nothing but a gust of air and a half-eaten slice of too-greasy pizza.

"Damn," Kate sighs. "When d'you think we'll see him again?"

Billy just shakes his head as Teddy comes back in.

"Got rid of Frank," he tells them. "Tommy take off?"

"Yep," Kate answers. "I guess we know why he never talks about his parents, huh."

Teddy agrees and turns to Billy. "Did you know they were that bad?"

"Yes and no," Billy shrugs. "I mean, like Kate said, he never really talks about them. I do know they were really young when they had him. His mom getting pregnant was the only reason they got married."

"He was an accident," Kate concludes, sadly. "They never wanted him."

Billy nods. "He was ten when they got divorced and he barely saw his dad after that. And then at fourteen they locked him up. I guess his mom barely fought for him at all."

Kate shakes her head. She doesn't understand how anyone could abandon their own child like that. She doesn't understand how anyone could abandon Tommy like that.

XxXx

It's a few hours later that she gets home. She'd gone with Billy and Teddy to check Tommy's apartment for him but he hadn't been there. They'd tried a few other places he might have gone after that but to no avail.

She closes the door behind her and flicks on the light, starting when she catches sight of the white-haired figure sitting at her dining table with its head bent.

"Jesus, Tommy," she breathes.

"Sorry," Tommy replies.

"It's okay," she tells him, putting her purse down and approaching him slowly. She doesn't want to scare him off again. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. I figured you'd taken off."

"Thought about it," he admits, looking up at her. She can tell he's trying to hide it, but his eyes are the slightest bit red-rimmed. "Realized I don't have anywhere to go. Or anyone."

"Tommy," Kate says, finally sitting down across from him. "C'mon, you know that's not true."

Tommy laughs harshly. "Sure it's not. You've seen what my family is like."

"I've seen what Frank Shepherd is like," she replies. "But he's not your family. Not anymore."

"Yeah, I don't have a family," he says, pushing himself to his feet. He starts toward the door, but it's at an average human pace. He could be half way across the city by now if he wanted to, she knows. He wants her to stop him.

So that's just what she does.

"Tommy, wait," she says, standing to grab his arm and turn him to face her. "Of course you have a family. You have a brother and a mother and an uncle and a grandfather. You have a soon-to-be brother-in-law." She hesitates. "You have me."

He meets her gaze then and the question is clear in his eyes. _Who are you to me?_ he doesn't ask.

It's a question she's been avoiding for a long time. The truth of it, though, is that Tommy's never just been a friend to her.

She reaches up, putting both hands on his shoulders, his fingertips brushing his neck. His pulse flutters.

"You are the least reliable person I know, but I would trust you with my life. You like crappy pizza and your jokes are never funny, but they always make me laugh. Tommy, you literally have people who would fight their way across the multiverse for you," she tells him. The corner of his mouth lifts a little at that. "We love you. And you deserve that love."

It's not the first time they've kissed. It's not the first time the air around them has been charged with something that Kate can't put into words. It's not the first time she's wanted him with every fiber of her being.

It is the first time she doesn't pull away; the first time she doesn't stop them before they can ever start because she's terrified of the way Tommy Shepherd makes her feel.

Tommy kisses like he means it, he always has, but there's something different about it this time, more desperate.

Kate understands that, she supposes. Tommy's in love with her. She's always known that. And she's always kept him at arm's length because of it. Suddenly, she doesn't want to do that anymore. And the feeling of Tommy's hands on her hips, pulling her flush against him, while her arms wind around his neck makes her wonder why she ever did.

After a moment Kate pulls back, just a little bit. Tommy makes a needy little noise in the back of his throat and chases her lips.

She smiles. "C'mon," she whispers, taking his hand and leading him toward her bedroom.

She pushes him to sit on the edge of her bed and follows him down, straddling his lap and kissing him again. She has both hands tangled in his hair now as his snake around her, one coming to rest on the back of her jeans and the other sliding up under her shirt.

It's Tommy who pulls away first this time. "Kate, hold on," he says, breathless. She is too.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Listen, if..." he falters, not quite meeting her eyes. "If this is just gonna be a one night type thing let me know now. Because I don't think I could handle it if we did this and you pushed me away again."

Kate's heart breaks a little bit at that. She doesn't owe Tommy anything. She knows that. And Tommy's never asked her for anything, either. Maybe that's why she loves him.

Because she does love him. She always has, in some way.

So the resignation in his voice when he asks her for this one little thing -- the first thing ever -- breaks her heart. She's hurt Tommy. For years, all she's done is hurt Tommy. And that's going to stop.

She takes his face in her hands and tilts his head until he meets her gaze and, as earnestly as she can, promises, "No, Tommy. This isn't just for one night. No more wasting time. I'm not going anywhere."

The smile Tommy gives her is earth-shattering. Things start moving faster after that. Tommy grips her hips and flips them around. Kate laughs as she lands on her back with a bounce and Tommy's lips find her neck.

XxXx

It's sometime later (Tommy may have super speed but he also has super _stamina_ and good God why haven't they been doing this for years?!) and Kate has her head resting on Tommy's chest, his fingers absently playing with her hair. She's just started drifting off to sleep when he speaks.

"Hmm?" Kate asks, trying to blink the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"How long do you think Billy's spell will last?" Tommy repeats.

"Forever, hopefully," she answers. When he doesn't say anything she asks, "Why?"

She feels him shrug. "I never really thought I'd see him again."

It doesn't answer her question, but she lets it go. "Did you want to?" she asks. " _Do_ you want to?"

Tommy's quiet for a few minutes after that before he answers, "I don't know. He scares me."

Kate's never heard three words that made her feel so angry and so protective at the same time. She wraps her arm around Tommy and squeezes.

"He makes me feel like a coward," Tommy confesses.

"You're a hero, Tommy," Kate replies. "Literally a superhero. An Avenger even."

"And yet I cower in the face of Frank Shepherd," he sighs.

"You were totally gonna stand up to him today," Kate tells him. "Defend my honour."

Tommy chuckles. "I'm not so sure about that."

"Don't worry," Kate smiles sleepily. "I believe in you."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun Fact: A few weeks after this Clint tells Kate he's discovered a pizzeria with the best pizza in town and insists that they go there for lunch. He ends up dragging her to the same place Tommy loves. Kate resolves to formally introduce the two of them after that.


End file.
